Sustainable Highland Rivers Management in Ethiopia | LARIMA

Abstract

Ethiopian highlands are sources of water for a majority of people in the country and contribute a significant water budget for all neighbouring countries. Over the past couple of decades, due to various development activities in these highlands, the water quality and quantity of the rivers is showing signs of strong deterioration. Unless some mitigating actions are taken in the near future the problem could be more deleterious for the aquatic system and hence for the dependent human population.

One way of insuring a healthy aquatic environment is by developing awareness of the essential nexus between land, water and people and initialise efficient monitoring systems to inform potential decision-makers. Universities and research institutes can be actively engaged in providing reliable monitoring tools in the area of water resources and management.

The LARIMA project therefore aims at building human capacity to establish reliable and advanced monitoring tools to assess the health of surface water resources, generate knowledge for understanding the linkages between socio-economic development and aquatic ecosystem services, and strengthen participatory management practices in the sphere of aquatic resources in Ethiopia.In addition, this project establishes and strengthens linkages and collaborations in research and education among national partners and between local and European institutions.